Between Two Worlds

Study Guide

Chapter One

​Begin by reading Genesis 1:1–2:3 and Psalm 33:1–9 aloud together.

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✦  Recall                        

1.  Before anyone looks back at the chapter, rebuild the opening of Genesis together from memory — each person adding a piece: what the earth was before God spoke (tohu vavohu), what God does that is unlike a craftsman shaping material, and the formula the chapter says repeats seven times without variation. Let one person begin and the others fill in what is missing; the goal is a complete, natural retelling, and don’t let a piece drop because you stayed silent.

2.  From memory: the chapter distinguishes creating from absolute nothing from shaping pre-existing material. Why does that distinction matter — what is different about a God who creates from nothing?

3.  Teach it to the group in two or three sentences: what is the meeting place of this chapter — where does heaven’s word touch earth here? If no one can say it plainly yet, find the sentence you are missing before moving on.

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✦  Reflect

1.  When creation moves you — a sunrise, light through a window, the sound of water — the chapter says you are not merely responding to stimuli; you are overhearing God. When did the physical world last stop you, and what is that moment reread through the creational-fiat lens?

2.  Read against yourself: which single sentence in this chapter did you most want to push back on, soften, or hurry past? Name it — then ask whether that is a real flaw in the chapter, or a place it got too close to something you would rather keep covered.

3.  The Sent Ones section says every person you meet is a word God is still speaking. Name one person who is hard to see that way. What would change in how you treat them if you genuinely believed it?

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✦  Roots

1.  In one sentence of your own, state the single load-bearing truth this chapter hangs on — the one thing it claims about the relationship between God’s word and everything that exists. Compare sentences around the group; where they differ, you will find what each of you took away.

2.  Read Psalm 33:1–9 slowly. Find every reference to God’s word, voice, or breath. What tenses does the psalmist use — past, present, or ongoing — and what does that tell you about when God’s creative speech is active?

3.  Verse 9 says, “He spoke, and it came to be.” The Hebrew amad (stood firm) describes ongoing stability, not merely initial existence. What does it mean that creation continues to stand firm at this moment? Connect this to Hebrews 1:3 and Colossians 1:17.

4.  Compare Genesis 1:1–3 with John 1:1–5. What does it mean that the Word who is the agent of creation “became flesh and made His dwelling among us” (John 1:14)?

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✦  Respond

1.  Bring one area of your life that feels like tohu vavohu — formless, without direction, empty of what it should hold — and ask God to speak into it with the authority He spoke over the void. Then commit to one concrete step this week. It can be invisible — an attitude you lay down, a word you leave unsaid, a silent acknowledgment at first light that the same Voice is still speaking. The smallest step counts.

2.  Each morning this week, before you check your phone or speak a word, pause at the first light you see and say quietly: “This is the answer to a word spoken before time.” Note at the end of each day whether the practice changed how the day felt.

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✦  Relate

1.  Name one actual person — not a type — whom you will treat differently this week because of what this chapter has said. Share their first name and one specific thing you will do differently.

2.  From the verses read in this chapter, which one did you find most thought-provoking — Genesis 1:3, Psalm 33:9, John 1:14, or another? Say why it stopped you. There is no right answer; the reason it struck you is what the group most wants to hear.

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